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Wrangling on the Range #90

Winter Tips



The H and R editors offer surefire advice for making horse care
easier despite shorter days, mounds of snow, treacherous ice, and
freezing temperatures.

When winter winds howl and snow arrives, the last thing you want
to think about is leaving your fireplace to trudge through
knee-deep drifts to pound ice out of frozen water buckets. What's
more, if you're dealing with frozen ground and don't know how to
keep your older horse eating and drinking enough to stay healthy
all winter, you've got to be thinking that there must be an
easier way.

We can relate. Our editors have maintained horses in such
rugged-winter states as Colorado, Idaho, North Dakota, and Ohio
and, along with season-savvy readers, have learned a thing or two
about ways to master the challenge. Here, for your benefit, are
15 solutions to winter problems. 


1 PROBLEM: Frozen water troughs/ buckets.
Rookie mistake: Pounding away at the ice with a hammer.

Savvy Solution: Water-trough heaters, as well as heated water
buckets, are crucial for cutting down on winter barn work and
keeping your horses drinking all day long. They also help keep
your horses healthy, because dehydration can lead to colic.
Insulate an in-pasture trough by stacking bales of straw around
it, and cover three-quarters of the tub with a piece of plywood
cut to size (ensure that all rough edges and corners are smooth
to avoid cuts and punctures). The plywood cover will reduce the
water-freezing wind that reaches the tub. Safety bonus: "I prefer
to use heaters in the tubs that are in my horses' pastures.
Keeping water readily available deters my horses from pawing the
ice on the pond. We had a horse crash through the ice a few years
ago and had to haul her out with the truck. It was one of the
most horrible things I've ever experienced," says H and R reader
Jennifer Biddle of Kentucky.

2 PROBLEM: Extension cords around stalls for water heaters.
Rookie mistake: Putting extension cords within a horse's reach,
where he could bite it and shock or even electrocute himself.

Savvy solution: Run extension cords through heavy-duty plastic
pipe anywhere that horses could get to a cord. The pipe won't
conduct electricity if there's a short circuit, and horses won't
chew through the pipe.

3 PROBLEM: Frozen pipes or a power outage that stops your well
pump from working.
Rookie mistake: Not having any water saved up for the emergency.

Savvy solution: Make it a habit to fill any extra gallon-jugs
with water, and keep them in a spare room, a non-freezing garage
area, or in your basement. The jugs will leave you with enough
water for emergencies so your horses don't go thirsty while your
water-source problem is being fixed.

4 PROBLEM: Moving manure, water, or hay over ice or in deep snow.
Rookie mistake: Throwing out your back when struggling with a
wheelbarrow to move barn supplies or manure through the snow.

Savvy solution: Bring out your inner child by breaking out your
plastic sled, designed to move much more effortlessly over the
snow and ice than a wheelbarrow or truck. Throw on bales of hay,
tubs of manure, or even the aforementioned water jugs, and slide
to and around the barn with ease.

5 PROBLEM: Snowed-in horse trailer.
Rookie mistake: Parking the trailer in an open or low-lying area
that's prone to drifts.

Savvy solution: Because your horse trailer can be your life-line
to getting to a vet in an emergency, it's smart to park it away
from areas where snow is likely to pile up. When plowing, be sure
to unbury your trailer first. Super-savvy: Wrap the hitch of your
trailer with bubble wrap and duct tape, so it doesn't get covered
with ice and snow. Keep extra bags of shavings in the clean horse
compartment in case they need to be spread quickly for a trip to
the vet.

6 PROBLEM: Dangerous ice buildup around the barn.
Rookie mistake: Using roadway ice-melt, which can burn horses'
skin if they come in contact with it.

Savvy solution: Substitute watersoftener salt pellets to melt
through icy spots. It comes in 50-pound bags, and you can get it
from retail outlets and big-box farm or ranch stores, too. It
doesn't burn the skin like the ice-melt that's made to go on
asphalt streets or sidewalks.

7 PROBLEM: Sweaty horse after a winter ride.
Rookie mistake: Thinking that one cooler will be good enough.

Savvy solution: A cool-down should be a multi-step process in the
cold. First, towel-dry the horse to remove any excess sweat, and
then put on the first cooler. After the horse has sweat through
that cooler, put on a new dry one. Repeat with fresh coolers
until the horse is truly dry. Putting a winter blanket on a wet
horse is a good way to give your horse a chill, defeating the
purpose of putting on a blanket in the first place.

8 PROBLEM: Ice-cold bits. 
Rookie mistake: Bitting your horse with a frozen mouthpiece
that'll stick to the soft tissues inside his mouth. 

Savvy solution: If you don't have a hot-water spigot at the barn
(and most of us don't), keep an electrical teapot or other
water-heating appliance in a safe spot in your tack room. Warm -
don't boil - a cup full of water to heat your bit before you
ride. If you don't have electricity in your barn, carry hot water
from the house in a thermos. Bit tip: Use a tall, skinny cup for
a snaffle bit to keep the rest of the headstall from falling in
and getting wet. For a straightmouthed bit, put the warm water in

9 PROBLEM: Horses dropping weight during the winter.
Rookie mistake: Maintaining the same feeding schedule year-round.

Savvy solution: Horses need to eat to gain energy to keep their
bodies warm all winter, so feeding extra hay and/or beet pulp and
adding fatty oils to their diets will help them keep warm all
winter long. Slowly start to increase feed intake in the fall,
and decrease the rations as the weather warms. Reader budget tip:
"Buy corn oil in bulk, and add a few ounces to your horses' feed
to save on higher-priced oils," says Sharon James of Utah.

10 PROBLEM: The need to soak beet pulp or other feedstuffs
Rookie mistake: Leaving the wet feed product to freeze in the
cold barn. 

Savvy solution: Keep a dry tub of feed to be soaked in your house
or garage, and soak each batch as needed. Use your handy sled to
drag the moistened feed to the barn at feeding time. Further
savvy: Do the same for other liquid supplements, like
glucosamine, or grooming supplies, like mane and tail
conditioners, that would be useless if left to freeze in the

11 PROBLEM: Keeping horses drinking.
Rookie mistake: Trusting that your horse will drink when he's

Savvy solution: Add half a teaspoon of table salt to each ration
of soaked feed to help encourage greater water intake. Sometimes
horses won't get enough salt if left to just lick a salt block,
making loose salt necessary.

12 PROBLEM: Cold horses.
Rookie mistake: Putting a blanket on after the horse is already
cold and/or wet.

Savvy Solution: Develop a blanketing plan and stick to it. If you
want your horses blanketed, blanket them before they get too cold
and wet. This will help their bodies adjust to the temperatures
better than if you occasionally blanket or un-blanket a horse.

13 PROBLEM: Ice-ball build-up on horses' fetlocks and in their
Rookie mistake: Trying to brush or pick off the ice.

Savvy Solution: Keeping your horse's long fetlock hair clipped
can be much easier than trying to fight ice balls. This tip isn't
for horses that live outside full-time, though, because they need
the hair to keep their legs warm. Clip the hair short (but not
show-ring short) when the weather starts to turn cold, so
ice-balls don't get a chance to form. For ice inside horses'
feet, spray a non-stick cooking spray inside a cleaned foot, or
line the hooves with petroleum jelly to stop snowballs from

14 PROBLEM: Filthy winter blankets.
Rookie mistake: Getting kicked out of the local laundry center
for trying to wash a dirty blanket. (Most commercial laundries
have a strict "no horse blankets" policy).

Savvy solution: Keep a lightweight, washable sheet on over the
heavier blanket, so all you have to wash is the sheet. Sheets can
be washed at home, and they dry quickly.

15 PROBLEM: Moldy or mildewed tack.
Rookie mistake: Leaving leather tack in a dark, damp tack room
during winter.

Savvy solution: Keep a 60-watt bulb on at all times in your tack
room hroughout the winter. This will curb nold and mildew growth,
which thrives in dark, damp conditions, and help save Your
leather tack.


To be continued from time to time

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